Clinical microbiology and infection : the official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases
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Clin. Microbiol. Infect. · Apr 2020
Randomized Controlled TrialA simplified blood culture sampling protocol for reducing contamination and costs: a randomized controlled trial.
Blood culture contamination carries risks for patients, such as unnecessary antimicrobial therapy and other additional hazards and costs. One method shown to be effective in reducing contamination is initial blood specimen diversion during collection. We hypothesized that initial blood specimen diversion without a designated device or procedure would suffice for reduction in blood culture contamination rate. ⋯ We offer this novel approach as a simple, cost-effective measure to reduce risks to patient safety from contaminated blood cultures, without the need for using costly devices.